2006 Chevrolet Cobalt

MY POWER STEERING TENDS TO GO OUT WHILE DRIVING. TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT COMES ON. THE SHIFTER CLICKS. MY SPEEDOMETER AND RMPS GO NUTS. MY ABS AND BRAKE LIGHT FLASH. THE CAR STALLS WHEN I STOP IN TRAFFIC OR AT LIGHTS. THEY REPROGRAMMED THE COMPUTER CHIP THREE TIMES AND REPLACED THE PART ONCE. I NOW AM HAVING THE PROBLEM AGAIN AND THEY SAID ITS NOT THEIR PROBLEM. *TR

IN JUNE 2006 I BOUGHT A 2006 CHEVY COBALT SD. ON JUNE 2008 I WAS LEFT STRANDED. THE CAR WOULD NOT START. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A NEARBY CHEVY DEALER. THEY CHECKED THE CAR AND FOUND THE FOLLOWING: BATTERY FAILED MIDTRONICS (BATTERY ONE REPLACED), CHECKED ENGINE LIGHT ON (INJECTOR FUEL CLEANED), INDUCTION SYSTEM DIRTY (THEY FLUSHED IT) AND AIR FILTER FULL OF DIRT (RAF REPLACED AIR FILTER). THIS PROBLEM COST ME $208.82. ON JAN 2009 THE HORN WAS REPLACED (IT HAD STOPPED WORKING 2 MONTHS PRIOR). THIS COST ME $58.85. THE MAJOR PROBLEM IS THE POWER STEERING. THE LIGHT CAME ON AROUND AUG OR SEPT OF 2009. THE STEERING WHEEL GETS HARD AND IT'S VERY HARD TO MANEUVER, SPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO TURN INTO A PARKING SPACE. I HAD THE CAR CHECKED BY TWO DIFFERENT MECHANIC SHOPS AND THEY BOTH SAID IT NEEDS THE POWER STEERING MODULE REPLACED. THIS PIECE COST AROUND $470. PLUS LABOR. THE FIRST MECHANIC CHECKED IT ON JAN 23, 2010 AND BOUGHT THE POWER STEERING MOTOR ($175.00)FROM THE CHEVY DEALER AND REPLACED IT. THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTED AND HE KEPT THE CAR FOR TWO DAYS TO CHECK IF MAYBE IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE. HE CONCLUDED IT WAS THE STEERING COLUMN THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. HE RETURNED THE MOTOR AND NOW WAS TOLD THAT THEY (CHEVY) DID NOT SELL THE MOTOR BY ITSELF, THAT HE NEEDED TO BUY THE WHOLE MODULE, WHICH IS $470.00. THE FIRST 2 MONTHS I WOULD TURN OFF THE CAR AND IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN, BUT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF DEC 2009, EVEN WHEN I TURN OFF THE CAR AND THEN TURN IT ON AGAIN, THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP AND IT STAYS THAT WAY THE WHOLE TIME YOU ARE DRIVING. IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY, EVERYTIME I TURN ON THE CAR. THIS IS A PAIN BECAUSE IT'S HARD TO MANEUVER THE CAR, BUT IT IS ALSO VERY DANGEROUS, BECAUSE IF I HAD TO MAKE A QUICK TURN, I COULDN'T DO SO, AND THAT WOULD PROBABLY END UP IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR

I PURCHASED A 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT IN FEBRUARY OF 2009. AROUND 65,000 MILES, THE POWER STEERING BEGAN GOING OUT. AT FIRST, IT WOULD ONLY GO OUT IF IT WAS HOT OUTSIDE, AND IF YOU TURNED THE CAR OFF AND THEN BACK ON IT WOULD GO AWAY. IT BECAME MORE AND MORE FREQUENT TO WHERE IT IS OUT NEARLY ALL THE TIME NOW. I HAVE BEEN TOLD MY ONLY OPTION IS TO HAVE THE STEERING COLUMN REPLACED AT A COST OF APPROX. $700.00. *TR

I HAVE A 2006 CHEVY COBALT AND FOR THE PAST MONTH THE POWER STEERING HAS BEEN TURNING OFF WHILE I'VE BEEN DRIVING. AT FIRST IT ONLY HAPPENED ONCE EVERY FEW DAYS, THEN IT STARTED HAPPENING DAILY, NOW IT HAPPENS EVERY TIME I GET IN THE CAR, ABOUT 15 SECONDS AFTER I START TO DRIVE IT TURNS OFF. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST ISSUE I'VE HAD WITH THIS CAR BUT I AM OUT OF WARRANTY SO THE DEALERSHIP WANTS ME TO PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO REPLACE SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE BREAKING IN THE FIRST PLACE. *TR

I READ THAT YOU ARE INVESTIGATING THE LOST OF POWER STEERING IN CHEVY COBALTS, AND WE HAD AN INCIDENT THIS LAST WEEKEND. MY SON WAS PRACTICING PARALLEL PARKING IN FRONT OF OUR CONDO, AND THE VEHICLE LOST THE POWER STEERING. IT ONLY OCCURRED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS IDLING VERY SLOW, SINCE HE WAS NOT MOVING FAST TO DO THE PARKING, BUT IF YOU PULLED BACK OUT INTO THE ROAD, AND ACCELERATED, THE POWER ASSIST TO THE STEERING CAME BACK. WHEN THE ASSIST WAS OFF, IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. I HAVE OWNED THE CAR ALMOST 4 YEARS AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE NOTICED THE LOSS OF POWER ASSIST STEERING. SO IT MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH TURNING THE STEERING TO EXTREMES AS YOU DO WHEN PARKING, OR MAYBE WITH STEERING AT A VERY SLOW RATE OF SPEED WHILE DOING THE WORK OF PARKING. JUST THOUGHT I WOULD REPORT THIS TO HELP IN YOUR INVESTIGATION. *TR

ELECTRONIC STEERING IN THE CHEVY COBALT. AROUND OCT 2009, I BOUGHT A 2006 CHEVY COBALT, PRIMARILY FOR MY DAUGHTER TO CONTINUE HER DRIVERS ED TRAINING AND PRACTICE. I NOTICED WHEN SHE TRIED TO PARALLEL PARK WITHIN THE 3 MINUTE MVA TIME LIMIT THAT SHE WOULD LOOSE POWER STEERING AND THE WHEEL WOULD LOCK. IT WOULD STAY LOCKED FOR SOME TIME (A FEW MINUTES). MY DAUGHTER MENTIONED THAT SHE WASN'T ALLOWED TO DRIVE THE CHEVY COBALT AT HER DRIVERS ED TRAINING BECAUSE OF THE SAME PROBLEM--SO THE COMPANY COULDN'T USE THE VEHICLES FOR THE STUDENTS TO PRACTICE PARALLEL PARKING. THE COMPANY WAS FRIENDLY DRIVING ACADEMY IN GLEN BURNIE, MD I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, BUT THAT IS HOW THE CAR IS DESIGNED. I TOLD THEM THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS POOR ENGINEERING AND THAT TRYING TO MAKE PARALLEL PARKING ADJUSTMENTS WITHIN A 3 MINUTE MVA TIME LIMIT SHOULD NOT CAUSE THE STEERING TO LOCK. MY DAUGHTER WAS UNABLE TO USE THE VEHICLE TO TAKE THE MVA TEST BECAUSE OF THIS. IT SEEMS THAT THIS SHOULD BE DEFECT AND THE VEHICLES SHOULD BE RECALLED. *TR

WHILE DRIVING MY 2006 CHEVY COBALT THE POWER STEERING MESSAGE POPPED UP ON THE DIGITAL READ OUT WHERE IS SHOWS THE MILEAGE AND I NOTICED THAT THE STEERING WAS HARDER TO MANEUVER. I SLOWED DOWN AND IT BECAME VERY HARD TO STEER. SO I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND LOOKED FOR ANY FUSES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN BLOWN NOT KNOWING IF THERE WAS ANY AND RESTARTED STARTED THE ENGINE AND EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE FINE. BUT IT DID IT 3 MORE TIMES IN A 4 MILE DISTANCE. *TR

I HAVE A 2006 CHEVY COBALT WHICH WAS BOUGHT BRAND NEW. IT NOW HAS 67,000 MILES ON IT. AT APPROX. 45,000 THE POWER STEERING LIGHT AND THEFT DETERRENT LIGHT BEGAN BLINKING. THE CAR DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A SECURITY SYSTEM. WE TOOK IT TO THE GM DEALER WHO "FIXED" THE PROBLEM BY TEARING INTO THE STEERING COLUMN AND CLEANING ALL OF THE PLUGS. IT WORKS FINE FOR A FEW MONTHS, THEN IT DID IT AGAIN. THEY THEN DID THE SAME THING AND CLEANED THE PLUGS. THE THIRD TIME WE TOOK IT BACK THEY REPLACED THE STEERING COLUMN AND IT WAS GOOD FOR ABOUT A YEAR. IT BEGAN ACTING UP AGAIN AND WE TOOK IT BACK AND THEY CLEANED THE PLUGS AGAIN. AFTER YEARS OF FRUSTRATION AND COMPLAINING, WE FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHAT CONTROLS IT. WHEN YOU OPERATE THE TILT WHEEL IT WILL EITHER FIX OR HINDER THE PROBLEM WORSE OR BETTER THAN WHAT IT IS AT THE TIME. I SAW THAT NHTSA IS LOOKING INTO THIS AND I WANTED TO FILE A COMPLAINT AS WELL AS EVERYONE ELSE TO LET THEM KNOW I AM NOT HAPPY WITH THE ELECTRONIC ASSIST STEERING. THERE WAS A POINT WHERE YOU COULD BE GOING DOWN HIGHWAY AND GOING AROUND A TURN AND THE POWER STEERING WOULDN'T' BE WORKING, AND IT WOULD KICK IN AND OUT JERKING THE WHEEL. MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR THE DRIVE TO KEEP THE VEHICLE IN ITS OWN LANE. IN ADDITION TO BEING HARD TO PARK, THIS IS A HORRID SYSTEM. I WILL NEVER BUY A COBALT AGAIN DUE TO THIS SAFETY ISSUE, IT ALMOST FORCED ME TO WRECK GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY. *TR

THE POWER STEERING ON MY CAR BECAME VERY "TIGHT" AND DIFFICULT TO STEER. THE STEERING PROBLEM PULLED MY CAR INTO THE LANE OF THE ON COMING TRAFFIC. I JERKED MY WHEEL AND WENT OFF OF THE ROAD. I DID PREVENT AN ACCIDENT FROM OCCURRING BUT EVERY SINCE THEN MY POWER STEERING HAS BEEN DIFFICULT. IF I TURN MY CAR OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON SOMETIMES IT RESETS THE POWER STEERING PUT SHORTLY AFTER I START DRIVING I HEAR A DINGING AND THE POWER STEERING LIGHT COMES ON AND ONCE AGAIN IT IS DIFFICULT TO STEER MY CAR. I REPORTED THIS TO THE PLACE I BOUGHT MY CAR AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS WITH THIS ISSUE AND THEY FELT THERE WOULD BE A RECALL. THEN TODAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010, I HEARD THE NEWS REPORTS SO I FIGURED I SHOULD FILE A COMPLAINT ALSO. *TR